« Use Your Potto For Quick Veggies | Main | Back From Vacation »
Thai Food: Finding Ingredients in Japan
By thomas | March 19, 2008
I’m not a great cook, but I do enjoy cooking. Thai food is among my favorite varieties of food, so when I do get around to cooking often I will make Thai food. But oh no, where am I to find lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, galanga, coconut cream and little Thai peppers in Japan? The local grocery store doesn’t have them. If I’m lucky an import store might stock them, but chances are they won’t have everything I need. I wish there was a place to order Thai ingredients (especially hard-to-find produce) online so that it will be delivered to my house. Oh wait, there is!
Thai Food In Japan
This list isn’t heavily researched. I haven’t made purchases from all of these stores, so I can’t compare them as far as service goes. But it should give you a starting point. If you want to find Thai ingredients in Japan, here are some options you can try (in random order):
- Allied Thai: I found this label on packages at the local import store and went to check out their site. They have a big selection and everything is broken up nicely into categories so it’s easy to navigate. The products tend to be on the pricey side. I advice you price check with some of the other sites listed. http://www.allied-thai.co.jp/shop/index.html
- Asia Superstore: Big selection and plenty of (low quality) pictures. If you don’t know the Japanese/Thai name of the ingredient you are looking for, a picture can be most helpful. Also pretty cheap. You can get your Thai produce here! http://www.asia-superstore.com/00contents/03.html
- Thai Market Store: Selection is not that big, but cheaper than Allied Thai. They have plenty of recipes on the site, which might be useful to you for both cooking and Japanese study. http://www.thai-market.co.jp/SHOP/69591/list.html
- Isara Store: Big selection, cheap and beautiful pictures of the food. They also put their sales up at the top! 120 yen for a can of coconut milk is pretty good! 168 yen nampla. Are you kidding me? This might be the best out of the bunch. http://www.isarastore.com/
- Asia Foods Ltd: No pictures, but prices are reasonable and it has an easy interface. http://www1.neweb.ne.jp/wa/asiafoods/orderform.htm
You can also try Kaldi
Thai Restaurants In Japan
If you don’t feel like cooking you can always dine in. Search for Thai restaurants here:
Do you know of any other places to grab Thai ingredients in Japan? How about some other variety of food? I’d love to make a series of similar posts on how to find Mexican food, Indian food, Swedish food, etc. Post your favorite import food links in the comments!
Like this post? Give me the Thumbs Up!
Share: Stumble This | Zoom This | JapanSoc This
Topics: Ethnic Food | Trackback
March 19th, 2008 at 8:49 am
How To Thai Ingredients in Japan | nihonhacks.com…
I live in Japan. I love Thai food. Sometimes I want to cook Thai food, but I can’t exactly walk into a grocery store and expect to find rows of lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and galanga waiting for me. Oh no! Fortunately there are some resources …
March 19th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
This is the motherlode of links for foreign ingredients in Japan as I know it.
http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=32780
March 19th, 2008 at 5:32 pm
They stock coconut milk in my local super (Gyomu)
March 20th, 2008 at 7:36 am
The Asian Market in Ueno has the best prices and selection hands down.
March 23rd, 2008 at 1:50 pm
I use
www.thai-market.co.jp
they have frozen and fresh ingrediaents, they deliver too. I too have found it hard finding good thai ingredients, luckily this shop has it. Took me for ever to find good qaulity ingredients too….hot chillies are very hard to find!
March 23rd, 2008 at 3:53 pm
Hi. If you are interested in cooking Thai food try
www.thaifoodtonight.com
It’s got about 30 recipes each one with a cooking video to go along
Good if you like to try cooking Thai food at home
Cheers
March 24th, 2008 at 3:57 am
Many thanks for this very helpful post!
Now I don’t have to travel across town to get my hands on my favorite Thai sauce!
March 26th, 2008 at 4:26 am
Muji stocks a really good pad thai kit
just add moyashi, nira, lemon and crushed peanuts
June 23rd, 2008 at 8:14 am
www.importfood.com, oddly enough, has been wonderful for me! Their shipping is very cheap, and they will ship fresh lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves (both of which freeze very well), galangal, Thai limes, Thai chiles, etc. directly and quickly! They also have recipes and they often have specials and sales.